Killing Moon (2000) (TV)

Director:

John Bradshaw

Writer:

Tony Johnston (writer)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A mysterious disease threatens airline passengers. |

Cast

Kim Coates	...	Clayton Durrell
Daniel Baldwin	...	Frank Conroy
Penelope Ann Miller	...	Laura Chadwick
Daniel Kash	...	Lt. David Thatcher
Dennis Akayama	...	Dr. Yamada (as Denis Akiyama)
Tracey Cook	...	Roberta
Christopher Bolton	...	Peter Neely
Natalie Radford	...	Teri Sands
Mark Camacho	...	Tag Hunt
Dave Nichols	...	Pilot
Elias Zarou	...	Joseph Carter
William B. Davis	...	Ed
Diana Salvatore	...	Jaya Millay
Matthew Godfrey	...	Adam Ward
Katherine Trowell	...	Sharon Carter

Also Known As:

Framed (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

95 min | Germany:85 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Company:

Trinity Pictures

Goofs:

Factual errors: The plane they are in is repeatedly called a "737", which has six seats across and a single aisle (3+3), but all interior shots show a "wide-body" type plane with two aisles and seven seats across (2+3+2). (One viewer commented that the interior shots are of a DC-10.)

Nobody's immune

Back in the mid-1950s there was "The High and the Mighty." It was a success, so there followed a spate of other airplane disaster movies (eg., "The Crowded Sky."). But you can only have so many engine failures and so many mid-air collisions, I guess, so some other crisis must take place before or after -- or, in this case, while -- the passengers reveal their own mid-air crises to one another. "Zero Hour!" in, what, 1957, gave us all a dose of food poisoning that killed off all the competent pilots. "Airplane" (1980) sent it up. Then, for some reason, probably the ebola scare, in the 1990s there were several versions of "Outbreaks" and "Carriers."

This cheaply made and tedious film is the first that I know of to combine some kind of viral outbreak with the traditional mid-air disaster. It's not really worth going into in any detail. The stereotypical characters and conflicts are promptly laid out for us. I more or less gave up after the first hour or so. I guess that's why I couldn't understand how everyone was able to leap to the conclusion that the pathogen was a virus and not, say, a bacterium or some other microorganism, or how or why they assumed it was airborne and not in the water or something. Or how it's possible for "red and white blood cells are essentially becoming radioactive isotopes." Not that any of that matters to the viewers who will enjoy this, or to the writers either for that matter.

The mechanism of infection and death isn't any more than a peg to hang a half-baked mystery on, and an excuse for Baldwin to chew out the wanly pretty blonde, Penelope Ann Miller, for which may his soul roast in hell. What is Baldwin doing in this movie anyway? What is he doing in ANY movie? I can grasp Penelope Ann Miller's presence. She's an actress of sorts, and eye candy to boot.

There is a guy aboard the plane who is some sort of naval liason with the types who develop biochemical warfare agents. The only reason I can make that statement is that the character announces it out loud. I could never tell from his uniform because wardrobe has been able to supply him with only a generic gabardine and a brass "U.S." badge on each lapel. He has no sign of rank, nor does his uniform give any indication of which branch of the armed forces he's a member of. DIV DIV There's another character aboard the plane who is the stereotyped moronic dim bulb that every catastrophe movie needs. He's as much of the part of the plot as the Chief of Police who demands that the rogue cop turn in his badge and his gun for overzealousness or cantankerousness or excessive mopery in office. You can't miss this moron. He's only there to shout abuse at everyone, accuse them of incompetence, display his cowardice, and interfere with everyone's attempt to find a solution to the problem. He drips with sarcasm. He's the guy with the blue shirt and big jaw with a tiny mouth in the middle of it. I'd also mention that he speaks with a Canadian accent but it's hardly worth it since, with the exceptions of maybe Baldwin and Miller, everybody in the movie speaks with a Canadian accent. Not that that's necessarily bad. Canadians are bland and inoffensive. Some of my best friends are Canadians. In fact some of my relatives live in Athabasca, Alberta. They don't own any gold mines or anything though, but they do have gallon jars of pickled moose on the pantry shelves. I only hope the Canadians never stop enforcing their anti-litter laws, and I love Moose Head Ale. I've never met a Canadian I didn't like. I've met a few movies I didn't care much for, and this is one of them.